Triforce Roulette: Dark Courage
by Archaon
Summary: [One-shot] What would happen if the main protagonists were blessed with different Triforce pieces? Meet the rebel, the sovereign and the court wizard, fighting for the future of Hyrule Dominion. Slight ZeLink.


**Triforce Roulette: Dark Courage**

A Zelda on-shot

By Archaon

**f-i-l-f**

He dodged to the side, barely avoiding a blade akin to his size that crashed on the floor instead, pulverizing the hard tiles. Never showing a lick of fear, he laughed at his opponent's ineptitude. His own black blade, an oversized greatsword that seemed to suck the light around him, bit hard into the heart of the winged golem for the third time and it crumbled into a pile of rock and white feathers, its orange core fading away.

With a self-satisfied chuckle, he replaced his sword in its scabbard, wiping the sweat off his brow and straightening his orange hair. "I am finally here", he muttered, checking his map once, absently taking a sip of blue potion from a large bottle. After briefly inspecting his ebony plate armor and his assortment of war tools, he resumed his one-man-invasion.

He waved his hand and the last door, bereft of its guardians, opened wide before him. The majestic outdoor stairs beyond were protectively coiled around the castle's highest tower and the view allowed him to see how his armies were faring. Hordes of Moblins, Redead and other assorted horrors were busy fighting and losing against a host of elite soldiers, powerful golems and mighty siege weapons. The skies were burning around him, choke-full with smoke and powerful magic, and the smell of sulfur permeated everything. He shook his head, having anticipated the result long before the battle. The distraction had worked.

At the top of the stairs, he found a huge patio, framed by ornate pillars, a single figure sitting on a grand marble throne that seemed far too big for her. "Long time no see, Empress Zelda" he saluted, bowing mockingly before his foe.

Zelda, the Crystal Sovereign, slowly rose from her seat of power, gracefully levitating above the challenger. Her attire was a peculiar mix of velvet and silk fineries, enclosing unyielding platinum and crystal armor that softly glowed with enchantments. It only accented her highly desirable figure, without leaving any apparent weaknesses. Her golden hair, tightly tied behind her, was writhing inside her aura of power and her piercing gaze, glued on the interloper, resembled twin purple torches.

"Ganondorf Dragmire", she spat. "I have prayed to the Goddesses long and hard to never have to see your knavish face again, but it seems they are still out of our reach. Why in Din's name would you invade my realm? Is this about your people's subjugation? I have treated the Gerudo fairly, allowing for more autonomy than they deserve. They too enjoy the benefits of being part of my glorious Hyrule Dominion."

Ganondorf chuckled. "I care nothing for those worthless fools. I simply can't stand the way you run your realm."

Zelda crossed her arms, raising a brow. "Oh? And I guess you entertain the notion you could do better?"

He smirked. "You bet I do! You are way too soft, Empress. Everyone sees you ruling with an iron fist, but the girl beneath the gauntlet is way too forgiving. Instead of crushing your enemies, you offer mercy. Instead of bringing the other races to heel, you gracefully incorporate them. Even your expansion beyond this continent is first and foremost a peace mission, a tribute to your supposed magnanimity. I'm sick of seeing this potential wasted."

The Crystal Sovereign smirked. "Poor fool. You understand nothing of the subtleties of stick and carrot. A tyrant's life is an empty existence. Look at me. I have executed thousands of dissidents. I have led my armies to victory hundreds of times. I have conquered the whole continent and beyond. And yet more people love me than loath me. Their fear is tempered by awe. Their resentment overmatched by pride and contentment." She raised her hand above her head, displaying the radiant Triforce of Power embedded in her flesh, glowing like a red sun. "You are weak, if not in body, then in spirit. You know nothing of power. Were you to take over, the empire would collapse around your blood thirst in weeks." Brilliant energies coalesced around her grip, forming into an opulent saber forged out of light. "Your armies are in shambles and your life is forfeit, usurper."

Ganondorf also retrieved his blade, his Triforce of Courage a green pulsar in the crimson storm around him. "I will take your place! I will do what you never dared to. It takes courage to rule, to burn away the meekness you call compassion!"

Slender blade and thick sword clashed against each other, releasing a shockwave of power. Ganondof snarled in frustration as he was pushed back, Zelda's blade unmovable as the continent she ruled. He struck again and again, but neither her smirk nor her guard faltered. "Is this the sum of your abilities?" She asked, a bit disappointed. "Waste of my time."

She rose high in the air, her blade flooded with murderous energies, which were funneled into a brilliant ray of death. Ganondorf was ready, though, deflecting the attack with his own sword, right at his foe. Zelda huffed, sending the attack back. The deadly game repeated many times, until Ganondorf suddenly took a great risk, teleporting forward and deflecting far sooner than Zelda had expected. She cried in pain, falling to the ground, and he rushed at her, trying to capitalize on his advantage. A barrier of light that extended independently of her will stopped him, painfully pushing him back. He didn't relent, though, his crossbow at the ready, sending a silver bolt imbued with dark magic, which shattered the pesky barrier. His sword slashed at her three times, leaving small scrapes on her armor and shallow gushes on her alabaster skin instead of cleaving her in twain. She regained her wits and released a tornado of flames from her body, which tossed him away so hard, he almost fell off the tower. His Mag-shot prevented that fate, its chain latching on a convenient candleholder and keeping him from falling to his doom.

Regaining her altitude, she furiously wiped the blood off her face. The next beam from her sword was a river of power that no blade could ever hope to deflect. Ganondorf frantically leaped away as the chunk of the patio he had been standing on disintegrated. The attack continued downwards, atomizing a detachment of Moblin riders that hadn't had the chance to engage yet, leaving a crater filled with molten rock.

The usurper showed no fear. "Temper, empress. Were you so secure in your power you failed to account for my ingenuity?"

"Silence!" she bellowed, the whole castle shaking under her wrath. "Only one man has ever drawn my blood without reprisal. Only one man is allowed and you won't survive to be the second."

"Oh, how kinky!" he replied, making a show of looking around. "I haven't seen him around, though, your little court jester. Where is he cowering at?"

Zelda's face darkened and he could tell he had struck a chord. She redoubled her efforts, raining more beams of destruction at him. She was still just careful enough to spare her living soldiers below them, but everything else – golems, machinery, buildings- fell to her rage. Ganondorf, dodged certain death once more, his smirk now marred because of a grievous burn on his arm, courtesy of a glancing hit. He decided to do something before he ran out of tower to stand on. Retrieving a wand from his belt he aimed at the floor underneath Zelda, who was too far gone to pay attention to anything but his position. A green disk of energy appeared on the floor, but nothing more happened. Still dodging the relentless attacks, the Gerudo timed his moves very carefully. Before the next beam could hit, he leaped away, creating another disk of energy right where he had been standing. The powerful wave failed to destroy that part of the tower, absorbed by one disk and coming out of the other portal, unerringly hitting a very surprised empress. Once again she fell down, this time to her knees, and once again he shattered her shield with his unholy projectiles.

"You are done!" he declared, drinking in the fear that blossomed on her face for the first time. He was finally striking, not at the impervious empress that had united the known world in one efficient juggernaut, but at the teenaged slip of a girl that had assumed rule way too early and was squandering her power with every breath she drew. His green and black energies gathered in his blade, which shattered, leaving behind the image of a sword that could cut ten times more sharply than metal. He delivered what they both knew would be the final strike, an attack that could rend reality itself, never mind simple imbued flesh.

His downward chop cleaved the remainder of the tower in two, the weakest piece collapsing into rubble. To his outrage, there was no lifeless body under his sword. His eyes snapped to the side and he gazed with hatred at the two figures, a bewildered empress and a young man in blue robes that matched his eyes, holding her tightly.

"One teleportation spell delivered", declared the newcomer, earning the ire of both combatants.

"What took you so long?" snarled Zelda, actually sounding petulant.

Link shrugged. "Your court wizard was waiting for his chance, milady. If I saved you before you actually needed it, you'd slap me to Kakariko city."

The Crystal Sovereign huffed. "Whatever. Just don't get in my way", she ordered, stepping away from his embrace and preparing to resume her onslaught.

Ganondorf had other ideas. "Look what the cat dragged in", he mused. "The empress' consort I presume?" Zelda actually blushed.

"As if', muttered Link. His hand, just visible under his long sleeve, gestured upwards, his Triforce of Wisdom glowing steadily, and produced a large blue shield that deflected Ganondorf's attempted sneak attack, an energy wave from his still ethereal blade. "Nice try, though."

The Gerudo felt rage burning him from within. For some reason, the condescending little wizard before him drove him up the walls far worse than Zelda had ever managed. Until this day he had only known him as the wielder of the third Triforce piece, an otherwise unremarkable individual, invisible next to the empress. Meeting him in person, made Ganondorf want to crush his bones and devour their marrow.

He released a series of attacks that were blocked effortlessly. "Fight me, you coward!" he demanded.

Link smiled. "I'm decent with a blade, but I simply have no reason to risk myself against you. And, anyway, are you sure you have time to deal with little old me?"

Ganondorf blinked, then cursed, turning to face Zelda. What he saw was something completely different.

The Crystal Sovereign had used her time well, focusing her Triforce and tapping deeper into its power. In the process, her body had changed. Three times her former size, she towered above the battlefield, two pairs of mystically glowing eyes surveying the situation. A pair of enormous angel wings, colored brilliant silver, had sprouted from her back, her armor shifting to accommodate them. She had also grown a second set of arms, conjuring weapons to fit. Wielding twin swords, a lance and a shield, she looked exactly the kind of holy avenger her people believed her to be, her whole body glowing alternatively blood red and harsh white.

Link shook his head. "This form looks very inconvenient actually. How are you supposed to learn to use all these new limbs?" One of the four eyes glared at him, but he ignored it. "And what's with the wings? You can fly without them easily enough."

Zelda, her face mostly hidden under a visor, smirked. She beat her wings towards a still gaping Ganondorf and a storm of light energy needles hit him, blowing him cleanly off the tower.

"I stand corrected", muttered Link, crossing his arms. "The ground will finish…" he stopped, as Zelda flew after the falling figure, lance first, and sighed. "Or you could stupidly follow him and do it yourself."

Five minutes later, the wielders of power and courage were still fighting all over the castle's diminishing towers and roofs. Ganondorf had survived the fall by latching onto Zelda's form and his blue potion reserves had made sure he was still at full power, until Link had managed to cast a precise sonic bolt that had shattered all of the Gerudo's bottles.

Zelda should have won easily, but her foe's reckless style and her own unfamiliarity with her new body had evened the scales.

At long last, she crashed on the remains of the initial tower, Ganondorf riding on her back, the whole structure finally collapsing, burying them in the rubble.

After long moments of silence, the ruins exploded outwards in one last brilliant display of power, which moved hundreds of tons of rock, Zelda in the middle of the blast. It cleared the debris off her, throwing her foe away as well, but the Crystal Sovereign appeared to have reached her limit. Her body was twisted, caught between her transformation and normal form. Her two wings were severed, leaving mere stumps behind that bled horribly. Shattered in many places, her armor revealed soft cloth and way too much skin for her comfort. Her formerly pristine hair was also matted with glowing blood, half of it her own. She tried to move, but her limbs did not feel hers anymore.

As for Ganondorf, he also was in a sorry state, albeit able to still stand. Covered in blood and silver feathers, with most of his armor useless, he slowly walked, his ghostly blade thin as a foil, but still deadly. He stumbled towards Zelda and raised his weapon for the final hit once more, then gasped as a silver blade erupted from his chest. "You… this sword!"

Link, completely unscathed, twisted the purple hilt of the Master Sword against the other's back. His robes were open, revealing enchanted chainmail and a concealed sheath that had been housing the weapon all along.

"Zelda wanted to simply disintegrate you, but I see you have achieved some form of immortality through your piece. I anticipated that and simply planned ahead."

"You backstabbing… weakling", snarled the Gerudo, spitting blood.

"I was wondering why the Master Sword chose me, you know. At full power I can only win against the Empress one time out of five. I guess whoever forged the Blade of Evil's Bane valued common sense more than raw power. It was simple to teleport away from that crumbling tower, unlike you two", he mused.

"You… can't kill me!"

Link nodded. "Like I said, I was expecting that. Did you know the blood of Triforce wielders has unusual properties? You already have a little from two wielders on you, so take some of mine as well", he said nonchalantly, emptying a bottle full of red liquid all over the Gerudo.

"What have you planned this time?" asked Zelda, valiantly trying to get a good view.

Her court mage sighed. "Sit tight, majesty, and I'll explain", he said with overblown formality, then regarded her intently. "Seriously Zelda, the least you could do was carry a healing fairy with you", he added chidingly, throwing another bottle at her.

"I hate their chattering", she muttered, releasing the offered sprite anyway. It cheered, healed her most serious wounds, restoring her normal form, then died, only to revive at the closest fairy fountain.

Link rolled his eyes. "Soundproof bottles." Zelda had the grace to blush and he ignored her, turning to the issue at hand. "With all of our blood all over you, it's easy to seal you away even without the ancient Sages' help, for a long long time." At Ganondorf's shout of rage, he laughed. "Be brave now", he chirped, casting a simple spell and consigning the bearer of the Triforce of Courage to nigh eternal void.

Zelda stumbled to him, grabbing him from the front of his robes angrily. He smiled at her, knowing she was simply using him as a crutch while trying to save her tattered pride. "You let me do the hard work before stepping in", she accused.

He shrugged. "I was merely following your orders, my empress", he replied dramatically. Anyone else mocking her like that would spend quality dungeon time at the very least, but she merely rolled her eyes. "As always, I take care of the details, leaving the big events to my liege. We wouldn't want anyone to think our Crystal Sovereign is anything more than perfection personified."

Zelda tightened her grip, still eyeing him intently. 'Link", she said somewhat sensually. "Shut up, you lazy sod."

He saluted. "Sure thing, Zel", he replied, sighing as she fell asleep and he had to carry all of her weight. That armor, ruined or not, was heavy, despite the nice view.

**The End**

**f-i-l-f**

When this idea came to me, I wasn't sure I could pull it off. After all, the three main characters are pretty much defined by their Triforce pieces. I was in danger of writing a story with totally new people that only shared a name with the LoZ protagonists, an abhorrent practice I have seen in other fics.

In the end, this is the best I could do in a one-shot, seeing as the vanilla characters are not actually very developed anyway. Ganondorf is still a powerful, power-hungry bastard. He just isn't strictly the strongest around, making up for it with a brand new daredevil attitude. Zelda is still a brilliant leader and compassionate, just a lot more ambitious, ruthless and easier to anger. Link was the hardest of all. He still saved Zelda and the day and he still wielded the Master Sword, just without the whole jumping-in-certain-death shtick. He is still pretty humble, never really advertising his role to the public.

I'd like to see others writing their own 'Triforce roulette' stories. Consider this a creative challenge. Switch two or more Triforce pieces around and try to keep the characters believable.


End file.
